Refilwe Pieterse on mission to revive Alex as the ‘kasi mecca’ of the arts it once was
Arts creative and poet Refilwe Pieterse, also fondly known as Fifi, is organising a cultural exchange with hip-hop artists in Alexandra and their Ghanaian counterparts.
Refilwe Pieterse so loves her kasi that it prompted her to embark on a revival mission to bring back the vibe and glory days of the arts in Alexandra.
It was this vibrancy in the various artistic fields that earned the township the prowess that made it the then mecca of the artistic industry it once was in the 70s and dating back to its founding in 1912.
In those years, if you were an aspiring musician, theatrical performer, dancer, boxer and even footballer, you had to trek all the way from the now eastern and western Cape provinces and from then Natal and Zululand to Johannesburg and destination Alexandra if one wanted to make it big.
That mecca tag of the arts has since slid to the backyard as the township battles new fronts of poverty, discrimination and deprivation and landlessness that reduced the kasi to the peripheries of stardom in the arts.
“I have been doing one-on-one private consultative sessions with artists in Alex on a mission toward upliftment of the arts in the kasi and empowerment of the artists themselves as they are in the business of the arts, and arts must also put bread on the tables of various homes in Alex once again.
“I have included in my consultative sessions this month alone [October] artist such as Lebo the Khoisan, who is going mainstream, the
hip-hop movement of Alex known as the ‘Dark City Sessions’, and hope Alex hip-hop will attract investors.
“On November 10, we will see the hosting of a fundraising event on stage billed as a cultural exchange programme between Alex and Ghanaian hip-hop artists,” said Pieterse, who is also fondly known as Fifi.
She added that the event seeks to provide cultural exchanges with some of the Alex artists such as Jovislash, Pule Ngamla and Kemenyonyo.
The same event will take place in Ghana in March next year on a date still to be confirmed.
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